Water-proof wrist watch case having oval glass profile

ABSTRACT

A rim member having an oval inner profile is overlaid on a round watch glass and figures on a dial are arranged along the periphery of an oval complementary to the inner profile of said rim member.

Unite States a Patent Takagi July 31, 1973 WATER-PROOF WRIST WATCH CASE HAVING OVAL GLASS PROFILE Inventor: Tooru Takagi, Kokubunji, Japan Orient Watch Company, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan Filed: June 23, 1971 Appl. No.: 156,010

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 13, 1970 Japan 45/112695 US. Cl. 58/90 R, 58/91 Int. Cl. G04b 37/08 Field of Search 58/90 R, 90 B, 91

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1969 Simon 58/90 B Hart 58/91 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Switzerland 58/91 Great Britain 58/90 R France 58/90 R France 58/90 8 Switzerland 58/91 Primary Examiner-George H. Miller, Jr. A Attorney.lames E. Armstrong et a1.

ABSTRACT A rim member having an oval inner profile is overlaid on a round watch glass and figures on a dial are arranged along the periphery of an oval complementary to the inner profile of said rim member.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures WATER-PROOF WRIST WATCH CASE HAVING OVAL GLASS PROFILE The present invention relates to a water-proof wrist watch case having a non-circular glass profile.

Water-proof wrist watch cases having a round glass profile have been widely used but those having an oval glass profile have found limited use by reason of the fact that the working of a glass having an oval profile is difficult and the water-proofness of the case can hardly be maintained with such glass.

The object of the present invention is to provide a water-proof wrist watch case having an oval glass profile, which eliminates the difficulties possessed by the conventional ones and can be produced easily and yet is completely water-proof.

Namely, in the conventional water-proof case having an oval glass, an extremely high precision has been required in profiling the oval glass for producing a liquidtight engagement between it and the main body of the case, particularly when the glass is made of inorganic glass, because the organic glass which has a hardness several times as high as that of plastic glasses cannot be shaped by deformation, and even a slight working error of the glass adversely affects the water-proofness of the case. According to the present invention, an oval glass profile of the watch case can be obtained, not by working the ordinary round glass into an oval shape but by using a rim member which has an oval inner profile, whereby a water-proof case having an oval glass profile can be obtained which has excellent workability and water-proofing ability.

The present invention will be described in further detail hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the waterproof watch case according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the watch case with the left half portion shown in cross section taken on the line AA of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a side view of the watch case with the lower half portion shown in cross section taken on the line 8-8 of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 designates a main body of the case, 2 a rim member, 3 a watch glass, 4 an O-ring cooperating with the rim member, 5 an O-ring for sealing a back cover of the case, 6 the back cover of the case, 7 a crown, 7' an O-ring for sealing the crown, 8 an'hour hand and a minute hand, 9 seconds hand, 10 figures, 11 a fixing ring, 12 a pipe and 13 a dial. The water-proofing structure of the embodiment shown is the same as that of the conventional round-type wrist watch cases. The back cover 6 is threadably secured to the main body 1 with the fixing ring 11 and the O-ring 5 interposed therebetween while compressing said O-ring 5 between said fixing ring and said back cover. The water-proofness between the crown 7 and the pipe 12 is secured by the O-ring 7 which is compressed therebetween.

The water-proofness between the rim member 2 and the main body 1 of the case is secured in the following manner: Namely, the O-ring 4 is disposed beneath and along the peripheral edge portion of the watch glass 3 and said rim member 2 is force-fitted over the main body 1 while compressing said O-ring 4 between said watch glass and said main body. The characteristic feature of the instant invention lies in the fact that the rim member 2 has an oval inner profile and the figures on the dial are also arranged along the periphery of an oval shape complementary to the inner profile of said rim member, whereby wrist watch having an oval dial of aesthetic appearance can be obtained. In addition, by changing the inner profile of the rim member, wrist watches having a dial of many different configurations, such, for example, as a dial of a cornered oval profile, can be obtained as desired.

As described in detail hereinabove, according to the invention a water-proof wrist watch case having an oval glass profile can be obtained only by working the inner peripheral edge of the rim member into an oval shape, and the other component parts can be round in shape. Therefore, the wrist watch case of the invention can be produced and assembled very simply and yet is completely water-proof since the water-proofing structure of the wrist watch case having a round glass profile is employed as it is.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that the present invention enables a water-proof wrist watch having an oval glass profile to be obtained by a simple working procedure without adding to the number of component parts, which is superior to the conventional wrist watches of this type.

What is claimed is:

l. A waterproof wrist watch having an oval glass profile comprising a case with a main body, a round watch glass, a rim member having an oval inner profile contained within the perimeter thereof and overlying said watch glass, said rim member being secured to the main body of the case in such a manner as to be liquid tight, a crown disposed on the periphery of the main body, a dial adjacent to said rim member, a fixing rim threadably secured to said main body, and a pipe disposed adjacently with respect to said crown, wherein a back cover is threadably secured to the main body with a fixing ring and a first sealing member interposed therebetween with said sealing member compressed between said fixing ring and said back cover, wherein a second sealing member is disposed and compressed between the crown and the pipe, and wherein a third sealing member is disposed beneath and along the peripheral edge portion of said watch glass and against said main body of the watch case.

2. A water-proof wrist watch case according to claim I, wherein said rim member is disposed in a force-fit over the main body while compressing said third sealing member between said watch glass and said main body, and the dial has figures arranged along the periphery of an oval shape complimentary to the inner profile of said rim member. 

1. A waterproof wrist watch having an oval glass profile comprising a case with a main body, a round watch glass, a rim member having an oval inner profile contained within the perimeter thereof and overlying said watch glass, said rim member being secured to the main body of the case in such a manner as to be liquid tight, a crown disposed on the periphery of the main body, a dial adjacent to said rim member, a fixing rim threadably secured to said main body, and a pipe disposed adjacently with respect to said crown, wherein a back cover is threadably secured to the main body with a fixing ring and a first sealing member interposed therebetween with said sealing member compressed between said fixing ring and said back cover, wherein a second sealing member is disposed and compressed between the crown and the pipe, and wherein a third sealing member is disposed beneath and along the peripheral edge portion of said watch glass and against said main body of the watch case.
 2. A water-proof wrist watch case according to claim 1, wherein said rim member is disposed in a force-fit over the main body while compressing said third sealing member between said watch glass and said main body, and the dial has figures arranged along the periphery of an oval shape complimentary to the inner profile of said rim member. 